


spring days and autumn leaves

by straymashi



Series: the convenience store chronicles [2]
Category: NCT (Band), SM Rookies
Genre: Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Banter, Cute, Domestic, Fate, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, I Tried, Luwoo, M/M, awkward in general tbh, but please give it a chance, markhyuck, not edited, pretty badly written honetsly, so don't expect much, soft, wrote this in one sitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-22 04:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straymashi/pseuds/straymashi
Summary: Donghyuck was the spring day. A ray of sunshine. Bringing light, life, and happiness wherever he went.And Mark was was the autumn leaves, eternally falling.On a rainy night, Lee Donghyuck met Mark Lee. The boy was kind, calm, and so beautiful. Everything Donghyuck wasn’t. Donghyuck was a mess of colors, bruises and blood littering his tanned face. The boy had a sneer etched on his face, and his eyes screamed of sadness.But to Mark, Donghyuck was a masterpiece.Or, alternatively: Mark meets a bloodied, insulting boy named Donghyuck in front of a convenience store. And he just wants to help. And things happen from there.





	spring days and autumn leaves

**Author's Note:**

> I swear, this is a lot better (and funnier) than it seems, especially as you read further through the story, at least I hope so. It might’ve sounded better in my head. Please give it a chance! Prepare for wholehearted trash though. 
> 
> This is set in the same world as my other fic: i don’t believe in saints (they never make mistakes), but you don’t have to read that to understand this one.
> 
> link to that: [ i don’t believe in saints (they never make mistakes)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14008050/chapters/32258223)  
> This is slight angst with a ton of my four a.m. crackhead (without drugs of course, drugs are bad) thoughts. This is only the second story I’ve ever written, so please encourage me in the comments if you liked it. I am a weak baby, so please give some encouragements to my awkward insecure self. 
> 
> This isn’t edited at all, btw, so forgive my mistakes. It probably makes no sense, because I write, and write, and I don’t like to think too much
> 
> On you go, thank you for being interested in my story. I hope you enjoy!

“Is that really all your blood?”

“No, obviously, it’s my pet orangutans.” 

“I’m just saying, you should get that all looked at and bandaged up. Especially this this damn rain.” As if his words had been heard by the weather, a particularly large drop of rain managed to get past his hood, hitting him directly in the eye. Mark squinted his eyes, trying to get the foreign water out. It was bad enough that he was already visually impaired (read: in need of new glasses), but the rain only made it even more impossible to see more than three feet in front of him.

“A little rain never bothered a lost soul, sir,” stated the red haired boy cheerily, letting a small grin break out with his split lips.

Sir? What the heck was this kid on about? How old did he think Mark was? Whatever, Mark persisted, “Still, kid, let me help you get that wrapped up or something at least. At this rate, you’ll definitely wind up sick and with an infection.”

Call him what you want, but Mark was a soft soul at heart. He wanted to help and fix anything that looked slightly bent. So, when he had noticed the damaged boy on the side of the street, he had immediately jumped to help him. The boy was a patchwork of colors. From his orange hair to his light blue sweatpants and pink t-shirt that was soaked through, showing hints on his tanned skin. The boy’s face was a art piece covered in different shades of bruises. All in all, Mark’s heart grew soft at the sight of the boy. All of that, however, was destroyed by the kid’s next words.

“Dude, I don’t need your help. I don’t go along with strangers. Especially ones out at three am. What are you even… like thirty? Don’t you have anything better to do than to be a pedophile and hit on minors?” the kid squinted up at him judgingly, making Mark balk.

Mark’s ears turned red in embarrassment. Nope, that’s not at all what Mark had been thinking. He had just been trying to help! He was innocent, and he did not deserve to be insulted! He did NOT look old. Hell, a ton of people had told him that he looked younger than his age. At least he now knew that the kid was okay enough to be this annoying. He huffed, “Kid, what the hell?! I’m only eighteen. I don’t look that old!”

“Whatever you say old man. But you didn’t deny that you were hitting on me. Oh, Mr. Pedophile sir. I’m blushing.” The kid had the audacity to highlight his words by cupping his face with his hands. 

Aish, Mark was done with this kid. What was even happening anymore? He had simply been trying to be a nice guy. The kid seemed perfectly fine though. Welp, Mark was never gonna try to be nice again. Yes, he is dramatic, but fuck being nice. Fierce Mark would be the only thing left of Mark Lee. 

“Whatever dude, I was trying to help, but you do whatever. Try not to die. Also, don’t flatter yourself, I would never flirt with you. You look like my baby sister’s stuffed dog. And that girl has dropped that thing in all kinds of shit. I’m out then, kid. Go inside the convenience store at least. It’s literally right there,” the light from the store provided them light under the dark night sky. “I wouldn’t want you getting sick on top of the cuts and bruises,” Mark scoffed. Yes, he knew that he was being a tsundere asshole, but the kid was being annoying. Mark quickly turned on his heels, the wrong way, he realized. But it was too late to turn back, as he’d only make a fool of himself in front of the younger boy. 

He had walked approximately three blocks from the store, when soft Mark returned in full force. Guilt invaded first. Orange haired boy was only a kid. Defensiveness and douchiness was natural at that age. Hormones were a difficult thing. Hell, Mark was still struggling with nature’s challenges. 

Mark spun around, making his way back towards the convenience store. Sure enough, the redhead was outside, sitting hunched on the ground, the rain making his hair stick to his face. The older stopped awkwardly in front of the younger. “Sorry… about what I said. You sure you don’t need help kid?” 

The boy’s voice was quieter this time, soft even, as he replied, “Sorry. Defensiveness is like breathing to me. I could always use an ice pack, or three, honestly. And maybe a drink.”

“As long as it’s not alcoholic, sure,” Mark joked, smiling softly. Something about the boy made his inner mama hen arise. He was becoming more and more like Taeyong every day. Sigh.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The kid had a visible limp. It wasn’t pretty, exactly. However, like the rest of the redhead, it was interesting. They had entered the store. The college guy at the counter was reading some manga. Naruto. When Mark squinted his eyes, he could make out Jung...woo? on the guy’s name tag. Yeah, Jungwoo.

The Jungwoo guy had simply raised an eyebrow at the odd pair, but he didn’t look angry, so all was good. Mark dragged the kid into the bathroom on the side. With the amount of blood covering the him, the kid could pass for a very annoying vampire. A vampire that was feeling super hungry, apparently. 

Mark quickly grabbed a few paper towels, wetting them. He held the boy’s face, trying to wipe as much blood off as possible. The kid let out a giggle.

_It was kinda cute. Full homo. Wait what the fuck, Mark Lee, Mark thought. Oh shit, I’m one hot minute from talking to myself now._

“Oppaaaaa, you’re so caring!” said the kid in a fake ‘girly’ voice. Mark quickly retaliated by smacking the boy’s arm playfully. Immediately the other clutched his arm, face scrunching in pain. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Holy shit, dude, I didn’t mean to hurt you! That’s just what I do to friends when they’re being dumb. Ahh, I didn’t even think…” Mark was in full panic mode now. His shrill words were interrupted by the other boy’s laughter. It was a full blown laugh this time. And it was a sight. Even with some blood on his face, and patches of his face swollen, the boy managed to make laughing look like and art. And Mark couldn’t help but to look in wonder

 _Shit, bro, Mark, your full gay ass is showing. You are not a walking tumblr, you dumb ass,_ Mark chided to himself.

“Don’t worry about it, old man. I was just kidding. I’m not that weak. Plus, I don’t have any bruises there. Yet. But, I wouldn’t hit me again if I were you. It’s cute that you think that we’re friends, though,” the boy grinned.

 _Not as cute as you._ Mark’s mind was a mess. Where the hell had these thirsty thoughts come from. Hormones were a struggle, y'all. Why were teenagers burdened with them? Mark was already a mess without them.

“I still call you kid in my head. We aren’t considered fully friends until you tell me your name at least.” Was Mark leaning in as he said these words? Maybe. Did he have any inclination to back away? Frankly, not really. The boy’s eyes were way to wide and pretty for Mark to want to move.

“Donghyuck. Lee Donghyuck,” the boy, no Donghyuck, replied as he looked Mark in the eyes, quirking an eyebrow. 

“Welp, Donghyuck, nice to meet you. I’m Mark Lee. I’m from Canada,” Mark added on the last part mainly because tons of people always questioned his accent.

“Good for you, Canada. I’m from Korea. As you could tell. You gonna help me clean up or are we gonna lowkey keep flirting, Markle?” He boy grinned at his own joke. 

Dammit, Mark was already regretting the decisions he had made. He should have just left while he still could have honestly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark entered the bathroom again, holding a newly bought box of bandages and two packs of ice. Donghyuck’s head snapped towards the sound of the door opening. Mark slowly put the new items up as a peace offering. 

Mark attempted to open the box, struggling, because the stupid flaps seemed to be super glued shut. There seemed to be a trick to opening them, that Mark Lee simply could not get.

Donghyuck attempted to hold back a smile, simply failing. After a few more seconds of Mark seemingly brawling with the damn box, Donghyuck snorted, mockingly asking, “Honey, you seem to be having some problems. You want some help?”

Of course, the fact that Donghyuck had just called Mark honey did not evade the older. However, at this moment, Mark was more concerned with showing the damn flat bread that he could do this. Eventually, the lid finally opened. Sadly, Mark’s thumb was a tragic war victim. The paper cut near his nail _hurt like a motherfucking bitch. Shit._

It was even bleeding. Shit. His fucking finger _was actually bleeding._ Make fun of Mark all you want, but the boy was a wimp at soul value. And pain was something he did not deal with very well. As me made eye contact with Donghyuck, the boy’s eyes were watery from how much he was laughing. _This bish._

“Hyuck, I did not befriend your ass to be made a fool like this,” Mark rolled his eyes along with his words. 

“Wait Hyuck?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“Good for you, Mark Lee,” Donghyuck snipped.

“Just, I was thinking, that I’ll just call you Hyuck,” Mark stuttered nervously. Did the younger not like the nickname?

“What am I, your fucking pet? You can just name me now?” There was a beat of silence. “Yeah, whatever, though, Hyuck works. I guess.”

Was Donghyuck freaking blushing. Mark leaned forward slightly to check. Yep, there was definitely pink stain on the younger’s cheek. Upon inspection, Hyuck snapped his head back.

“Whatever, back to the important stuff. About your injury… It’s okay, babe, at least you have the bandages open so you can take care of your battle wound,” he said, with a shit eating grin, embarrassing Mark even farther.

“Take the fucking bandages and ice packs,” Mark slipped the things over to Hyuck, taking one of the band aids for himself. 

“Thanks Markle,” Donghyuck whispered, his eyes looking soft, almost sad, all of a sudden. He quickly pressed the ice packs against his cheeks. 

“How’d you even get the bruises and cuts kid?” Mark asked gingerly. 

“Oh, you know. How all the hip kids get them nowadays. I fought some douchebag.” The words were accompanied by a smile. But something about the smile seemed off. Rueful, almost plasticy. It was a smile that shouted: LIE. 

Mark didn’t proceed to question the lie though. There was something about the topic that screamed not safe. He pretended that he believed the boy had gotten in a fight with some fellow flat bread. Mark chose to simply reply, “Who the hell even says hip nowadays? Are we sure that I’m the old one in this duo?”

“I do duh. Cause I’m so hip. Also of course you’re older. Ommo, is that facial hair that I see?” Donghyuck followed his words with a snigger, and he rubbed the underside of Mark’s chin. Mark immediately jumped back in surprise.

“Whatever kid, you done with putting on bandages? Let’s go outside. The cashier must be so weirded out by the fact that we’ve been in here so long,” Mark murmured as he opened the bathroom door, stepping out. 

 

“Bitch, wait up. I’m and injured being!” Hyuck shouted from behind him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nope, the cashier didn’t seem to care at all that Mark and Donghyuck had been in the bathroom for half an hour, one of them looking like they had had a recent runin with a chainsaw. In fact, as the two younger boys searched the store for some three a.m. snacks, Jungwoo was busy seeming flirting it up with some guy.

It was confirmed, a majority of the whole of South Korea was gay. The other guy across from Jungwoo was huge. Like, I could step on your house for fun kind of tall. And the dude had a shit ton of tattoos. Admittedly, the guy’s smitten smile softened up his face a tenfold. Now that Mark looked at the guy’s face, it was nice. No one would ever mistake the giant as ugly. For Sure.

Mark didn’t know what to do in this situation. Should he interrupt the two? Stand around awkwardly? Pretend to look around? So many options. Social awkwardness made choosing very hard. He glanced at Donghyuck, his eyes screaming _‘help.'_

Donghyuck grabbed Mark’s arm, pulling him toward the other side of the store. There was still a very noticeable limp to the boy’s walk, but the younger only walked faster, seeming to ignore all the pain he must have been in. If Mark had been in his place, he surely would have started bawling a while back.

Even though they were on the other side of the store, they could still hear everything that was being said at the register. The convenience store was very small, in the typical fashion.

The two at the register seemed to be in their own world. The taller was saying something to the smaller, but still a significant amount taller than Mark (sigh), man. Jungwoo would let out an occasional giggle, in his hella soft voice. It was a cute site. For sure. And Mark was a eternal romantic, and Donghyuck seemed to be as well. Hyuck had a large smile on his face, smiling at the cashier and his boyfriend with pride. Yep, Hyuck probably already shipped them. Relatable.

The clock on the wall showed that it was officially four a.m. Way past his bedtime. If his parents caught sneaking in right now, he would never live to see the sun tomorrow morning. Overbearing parents were something that not a lot of his friends could relate with him on. Sigh. Mark sighed way too much, honestly. He had already started finding some premature gray hairs. Maybe Hyuck was right. Maybe he was old now.

Deciding that it was just a waste of time standing around for the couple to finish their conversation, which they didn’t seem to be inclined to anytime soon, Mark slowly shuffled forward, a confident Donghyuck following behind swiftly.

Mark stopped behind the giant of a visual, coughing subtly, trying to signal that he was, kind of, alive. Both of human towers’ heads snapped in his direction. The way that the two looked at his clearly showed their disappointment at Mark ruining their moment. Well damn, if looks could kill. Actually, the being ever so socially awkward human that Mark was, he would prefer death in that moment. 

“U-um. Uh, can we get these?” Dammit Mark was officially stuttering now. Welp, this was uncomfortable. And stupid Donghyuck, the ever so kind friend, didn’t seem to want to help the older in the situation.

Jungwoo the cashier quickly masked his face with a kind smile. Something about the other boy just screamed soft to Mark. In the fluffiest voice, because that’s the only way to describe that voice, the boy replied, “I’m so sorry! Of course. Here, hand me what you guys got.”

The tattooed boy didn’t seem to be budging, though. With a tired sigh, Jungwoo turned towards him, and snarked, “Wong fucking Yukhei. Move. I have a freaking customer. You know that Johnny will not hesitate to kick your ass if you keep on driving away customers.”

“Sorry babe!” The tall one, Yukhei, jumped aside, with a loud laugh. The laugh was extra as fuck. Mark could actually feel it in his bones.

Mark handed over everything that Hyuck and him had gotten. Which was a lot. Mark’s wallet would be crying for weeks. 

Donghyuck, who had been quiet up until that point, suddenly addressed the cashier, “Are you two dating?” 

Jungwoo’s eyes shot open, but before he could get a word in, Yukhei replied, “Oh, hell yeah. Aren’t we cute?”

Accompanying his words, the tallest cupped his face, blinking his eyes, as if trying to emphasize the cute part of his statement. Meanwhile, Jungwoo looked like he wanted to slam his head into an object. Blushing, the cashier said, “Are we that obvious?”

“Ohhhh yeah. You two scream honeymoon phase,” Donghyuck, the one with seemingly no filter, blurted out.

That made Jungwoo blush even more, “I swear, we were trying to be lowkey.”

Yukhei let out another heart attack inducing laugh, saying, “Don’t lie, Woo. We can’t have your pants lighting on fire. You look so cute in them!”

Jungwoo was the color of his shirt, a red uniform one, and he attempted to play everything off, smiling painfully, “If you keep doing this, _Lucas,_ I swear, I will burn your album collection.” 

Lucas (Yukhei?) let out a dramatic gasp, “No! Not the albums. You would never, you monster.” He addressed Mark and Donghyuck this time, as he continues, “Sorry, fellows, the albums are precious. They must survive.” 

With that, the boy made a zipping motion over his lips, showing that he would be quiet. Donghyuck let out a snort, “Relatable. I’m too broke to afford too many albums, but I would sacrifice my life for that shit.”

Things calmed down after that. Jungwoo finished checking out the items, the price lessening a significant amount of the money in Mark’s wallet. The two left the store, leaving the frankly nauseating couple back in the convenience store.

The two walked quietly down to the bus stop a few blocks away, sitting at the bench. They quickly slurped the lukewarm ramen, trying to finish it before a bus arrived. When Mark looked at the boy, Donghyuck was smiling softly at the dark sky. 

With the hand that wasn’t holding the ramen, because food could never be sacrificed, Mark took out his earbuds. After putting one of the earbuds into his own ear, Mark offered the other to the younger. Hyuck accepted it with a sheepish grin.

“What song, handsome?” Donghyuck giggled softly around the ramen he was eating. It was gross and cute at the same time. Mark shrugged, pressing shuffle on his phone. A Troye Sivan song burst through the earbuds, startling them both. A laugh burst out out Donghyuck’s diaphragm, and Mark quickly followed, because of the audacity of the whole situation. 

He quickly lowered the volume, and the two went back to eating their ramen, smiles on their face, music completing the cliche situation.

Mark couldn’t help but think about absurd the last hour had been. His romantic heart screamed that this was fate. His brain however stated that that sounded insane and stupid. 

But Mark couldn’t disagree with his heart.

At four a.m. under the dark sky, Donghyuck shone like the sun on a summer day. Through all the sadness, bruises, and pain that covered him like clouds and paint, a single smile could make the sun shine through. The sun that would make your ignore all the little clouds. He was the spring sky. Spring, a season that Mark had never really liked very much. He was more of a autumn man. 

And just like the autumn leaves, Mark could feel himself slowly loosening from the branch. Soon, he would be falling, like the dead leaves. 

The sound of the bus bumping to a stop broke Mark out of his trance. This wasn’t the bus to his house, but Donghyuck shot up as the bus doors shuttered open. Donghyuck turned towards him, saying, “Well, Mark Lee, I’ll be seeing you around. Hopefully, I can pay you back sometime. Stay cute, Mark Lee.”

With all the finesse that was so him, Donghyuck limped onto the bus, waving lightly.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! What did you think? Please leave a comment or kudos. Oh, lord, I'm so nervous. This was just a work spew, and I really hope it made sense. I'm too stressed to go through it. So, umm, have a fantastic day!


End file.
